Eagles first-round pick Johnson is Texas tough

Philadelphia Eagles first round draft pick Lane Johnson speaks during an NFL football news conference at the team's practice facility, Friday, April 26, 2013, in Philadelphia. Johnson, an offensive tackle from Oklahoma, was selected fourth overall in Thursday's NFL draft. At left is a photo of former Eagles Chuck Bednarik. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Listening to Johnson and his stepfather, cowboy hat wearing James Evans, you understand where the fearlessness in the Eagles’ first-round draft pick out of East Texas comes from.

Johnson (6-6, 303) used to put wild hogs weighing up to 500 pounds on their backs for recreation on the stepfather’s cattle ranch in Groveton, Texas. When the offensive tackle took on pass rushers at Oklahoma, he used some of those same primal techniques.

“I’m usually not a mean and aggressive guy off the field but I think when you’re on the field you want to have a nasty temperament and just try to be as dominant as you can over another player,” Johnson said. “I know that’s what scouts and people are looking for on tape because we had a few ex-NFL players telling me to play aggressive and mean. I tried to take that to heart my senior year and really put some good stuff on tape and try to do the best I could.”

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Johnson is the pride of Groveton, a town of 1,100 that takes football very seriously.

“It’s a big football town,” Evans said. “If you don’t win there, you don’t stay long. You’ve got to keep more on the left than you do on the right, you know what I mean?”

Tall for his age, Lane Johnson started at quarterback in high school. The small town atmosphere didn’t endear itself to recruiters, Johnson unable to attract attention until Oklahoma scouts saw him in junior college.

The Sooners knew they had something as Johnson clocked a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash at 250 pounds. Eventually the defensive-minded Bob Stoops gave in and Johnson agreed his best chance to get playing time was at offensive tackle, not defensive end.

Evans was overwhelmed by the well-wishes from the good folks in Groveton after Johnson was selected by the Eagles with the fourth overall pick in the draft Thursday.

“Lane is loved around town,” Evans said. “I think everybody in Groveton texted me. That means a lot to people in Groveton.

“Before the draft it felt like just before you were kicking off in a football game. That’s what it felt like to me. And after it was over it felt like the game was just over. All I did was sit in that chair all night and I was still tired.”

For Evans it was the first trip to New York and then Philly. Of course, there will be a lot more.

Almost 92 percent of offensive tackles drafted in the top 10 tend to play an average of five seasons and start 55 or more NFL games according to the research of Ted Sundquist, a former NFL general manager.

Johnson, when he perfects the technique, has a chance to be special. He ran a 4.69 at the scouting combine and opened eyes in the other drills to vault into the top five.

“Well, I think athleticism makes up for a bunch of mistakes,” Johnson said. “I think on the college level you can get away with some things but this is the pros. Obviously you’re playing with the best of the best and you obviously have to play with a better technique and that’s something I’m going to try to incorporate into my game.”